By Tariq Tahir
The latest shipment of weapons means Britain has more than doubled its total sent there to 10,000 just days after Ukraine warned it was fast running out.
The UK has already given 4,000 anti-tank artillery — including
News Enigma
Perspective is architect of perceptionA RUSSIAN helicopter has been blasted out of the sky by Ukrainian forces using a British missile for the first time.
Dramatic footage shows the moment the Mi-28N is hit by the Starstreak in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
The missile being fired on a training exercise by British soldiers[/caption]
The Starstreak is the world’s fastest surface-to-air missile and can travel at three time the speed of sound.
Ministry of Defence sources said it’s the first time the missile has been used to bring down a Russian plane.
In the video, the chopper can be seen skimming the treetops before it’s hit in the tail by the Starstreak.
The missile can be seen lifting off through the trees towards its target.
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The rear part of the helicopter then bursts into flames and comes of as the helicopter plummets to earth.
Other footage shows the aircraft wreckage strewn across a road as it’s inspected by Ukrainian troops.
The two crew on board the helicopter were reported to have survived being shot down though it’s unclear if they were captured by the Ukrainians.
Defence sources who examined the video of the Russian helicopter coming down reportedly believe it was as a result of a Starstreak.
It comes as….
- Ukrainian helicopters hit a storage facility in Belogrod with S-8 rockets, triggering a huge blaze and injuring two workers.
- A Russian soldier has died of radiation sickness from the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
- An orangutan rescued from under-siege Kharkiv is so traumatised that keepers have given him a TV so he can hear children’s laughter.
- Russian soldiers have reportedly left burned and booby-trapped bodies of executed civilians on a highway.
Britain announced on March 9 that it was supplying the high velocity portable missiles to the Ukrainians.
The Belfast-made missiles can be shoulder-mounted or attached to a vehicle and each missile one splits into three darts to puncture armour before warheads detonate.
The Starstreak is not a “fire and forget” system like other anti-aircraft missiles.
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The darts are guided to targets by an operator on the ground but this making it difficult for the enemy to deploy counter measures.
Ukrainian troops have been training with Britain’s best Starstreak operators at a secret location in a neighbouring country.
The intensive training was aimed at getting them ready to use the missiles in combat with a two to three weeks intensive course.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has previously said the Starstreak system was ready to be used imminently.
The UK has already sent thousands of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine and has agreed to send more after a conference held by military donors to the country.
He told last night told Sky News: “There will be more lethal aid going into Ukraine.
“Ukraine needs longer-range artillery and that’s because of what the Russian army has been doing, which is now digging in and starting to pound these cities with artillery.
“The best counter to that is other long-range artillery, so [Ukraine will] be looking for and getting more long-range artillery, ammunition predominantly.
‘They are also looking for armoured vehicles of some types — not tanks necessarily, but certainly protective vehicles, and more anti-air [weapons].
“All of this will be forthcoming as a result of this conference.”
Britain recently said it would ship another 6,000 anti-tank missiles and explosive weapons to Ukraine to help “keep the flame of freedom alive”.
Boris Johnson vowed to bolster defensive lethal aid to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces — including NLAW tank busters.
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The latest shipment of weapons means Britain has more than doubled its total sent there to 10,000 just days after Ukraine warned it was fast running out.
The UK has already given 4,000 anti-tank artillery — including Next-Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons Systems, or NLAWs, and Javelin missiles.
The Starstreak is the fastest surface-to-air missile in the world[/caption]
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Category: News, World News, Ukraine war
